So, 2009 has begun. Within the year, I’ll be halfway done with college. I’ll have four semesters remaining here at the University. I hope to be well on my way to figuring out exactly what it is I should be doing… not just in a career realm, but in a leadership realm, a relationship and friendship realm. I could be all over the map this year, from Florida to Texas to Connecticut (internships?) to Massachusetts to Minnesota to Wisconsin to Washington (grad school tour?) to California (road trip?), simply depending on what happens to me in the next 12 months. It should be quite an interesting and a fun-filled 2009.
So, all of this, yet, as I start this year, I look at problems from the end of 2008. I didn’t get a winter break… in the two weeks that would have been my break, I took care of the craziness that is the Christmas season (materialistically and non-materialistically), saw family upon family upon family, and, just when I think that things were to settle down, other problems come up that I must deal with. It’s not the small stuff that comes up either… it’s the big stuff that kept (keeps) me up late at night, wondering how to fix this, what to do about that, whether this idea would be best served in this place. It’s also the big stuff that I’m most passionate about, and the big stuff that gets me the most involved, through my faith, through my heart. I can only help that 2009 brings some solutions to 2008.
And so far, there has been hope. Nothing like putting everything on God’s shoulders… a friend of mine got me a copy of “The Imitation of Christ,” and, so far, a little bit of daily reflection on those words has helped with one of these large problems of mine. The biggest thing that I’m learning: learn to be humble, in taking things that you want to be in control of and giving them up. Letting God take control of the hard stuff in life will make things a whole lot easier for you. It may not be the solution that you want, but, in time, you can be confident that it’s the best one, as it’s God making the decisions. And what’s better than that?
So, as we enter into this new year, I’m hopeful that these large problems looming from last year can get solved. I know that things could get long, complicated, and messy, but all of that won’t be a problem if I can trust in God, knowing that things will get solved through Him.
May God bless your year in 2009… I hope that it’s better than the last.
–jl–
